Prep football: Loss to St. Vincent drops Tomales out of contention for league title

PETALUMA — The Tomales High football team has won its conference championship for each of the past six seasons, but the likelihood of that run stretching to seven dropped precipitously on Saturday.

With host St. Vincent controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, the Mustangs (6-2, 4-1) pulled away for a 34-0 victory over the Braves. The loss left Tomales (5-3, 3-2) with little chance to claim first place this season in the North Central League II/Bay Football League standings given that the Braves now trail three teams, including two that have defeated them.

"I'm having a wonderful afternoon," St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway said. "We were looking for our best effort and we got it this week. You feel good when you beat a really good team, and that's a really good team. We knew we were going to have to play physical — you have to play physical if you want to play with them. The ball game is won at the line of scrimmage. And I thought today we did a great job at the line of scrimmage."

St. Vincent's offense hurt Tomales with its passing game (138 yards), which might not have been much of a surprise for the Braves. But the Mustangs also rolled up 298 yards on the ground, including 166 by Derek Murphy and 128 from George Sammon.

"Our line came up huge," said St. Vincent's Jordan Pech, who is among four Novato players who start on the Mustangs' offensive line. "Everyone stepped up. The linemen focused all week. "... I knew our linemen were coming out to play, it was a rivalry game to start with. And our line executed this week, we stepped up huge."

Tomales' offensive numbers — 174 yards rushing and 77 passing — couldn't overshadow the team's offensive mistakes, which included two lost fumbles inside the St. Vincent 20-yard line, including one on a play that began at the St. Vincent 1-yard line.

"This was definitely frustrating," Tomales' Juan Avalos said. "We just came out too flat, way too flat. We prepared for every play that they ran, we prepared for that. There was tricks out there. We just didn't execute."

Tomales appeared to have things going on its first possession, with quarterback Jacob Brady hitting David Guerrero for a 35-yard gain on the first offensive play of the game. The Braves then marched to the St. Vincent 13-yard line, where they had a first down.

But Brady, because his helmet came off, had to leave the field for one play. Cody Titus, subbing for Brady, couldn't handle the next snap and St. Vincent recovered the fumble. Things went largely downhill for Tomales from there.

"These are our rivals, and just getting blown out like that, it's not a good feeling," said Tomales' Anthony Feliciano, who led the Braves with 117 yards rushing. "We made so many mistakes. We just hope to see them again."

The only way for that to happen would be for the teams to collide in the North Coast Section Division V playoffs. With only eight teams qualifying, Tomales coach Leon Feliciano said the team has work to do to grab a berth.

"We're not going to win the league title," Leon Feliciano said. "That's done; that's over. But the playoffs — we've got to win one out of two (of the team's final regular-season games) the way I see it. So, we'll see."